Run Gone Badly
by Doggett.Rules
Summary: I own nothing of The Walking Dead. Can Michonne save Rick when he almost dies?


It was a cold winter's day and after a run gone badly, Rick had been separated from the group after they'd been surrounded by walkers. Rick was running through the wooded area with a horde of walkers on his tail. Every time his feet hit the ground crunching of snow and frosted leaves could be heard as well as him being out of breath. Rick could see a clearing up a head and he headed for it, hearing the groaning and moaning close behind him.

Moments later, Rick was out of the woods and running across a snow covered frozen lake which he hadn't noticed. He was running until he heard a crack under foot which made him come to a sudden halt. Rick's eyes flickered to the ground, momentarily startled. Swiping his foot against the snow, he unearthed thick ice, and bellow the misted surface bubbles shifted below. He was on an oversized lake.

Loud, deafening cracks of the thick ice shattering shook him as he glanced up at a few walkers which had left the horde and were now heading his way. Rick took another step forward, a loud crack came from underneath him and then he was falling.

The water was thick, like watery slush. So as Rick made impact on the surface, he sunk into the dark water that churned with watery ice. Instinct clawed at him, he raised one hand to swim upwards but only felt himself sink further. His wool lined coat had grown heavy. It was a struggle peeling of his coat, which clung to him, not wanting to let him go.

Without the extra layer Rick became more aware of the biting chill of the water. It was putting pressure on him, pressing small needles of ice in to his skin. The coldness of the water was seeping in to his body, mingling with his muscles and chilling him to the bone. He kept his eyes closed, trying desperately not to choke on the water and reach the surface.

It was at that point Rick's skull tapped a solid surface.

His eyes flew wide open, hardly noticing the water burning his eyes. He wanted to scream in horror but kept his jaw locked and his lungs empty. His heart was already pounding painfully in his chest, straining for oxygen.

He then saw a glimpse of colour, a familiar smudge of brown through the ice. He lashed out at the solid barrier before him, to gain attention, but the smudge of colour moved out of sight as Rick bounced deeper in to the water. Kicking to return to the surface only caused tearing pain in his cold and cramping muscles. With his chest aching horribly and his head growing light, Rick made one last, illogical attempt to escape the water.

Rick opened his mouth to scream.

Instinct drove him to take a breath, his lungs at their limit and ready to burst. But, as predicted, no oxygen flooded his body, but water did. His body jerked, choking on the slush in an attempt to rid itself of the liquid, but couldn't. He tried to cough up the water only to breathe in more of the liquid in a final choking rush. The cold liquid went in to his lungs and he felt his throat burning as the liquid filled his lungs. He always thought drowning would be peaceful but it wasn't it was painful and then the blackness was coming for him.

The chill's grip strengthened, weaving its way through his insides and making his body shake violently. Finally Rick felt himself stop shaking, he could just make out the colour of the water around him, but darkness played at the edge of his vision, mocking and waiting to consume him. Then, just as Rick's struggles turned to sluggish twitching, a crack jolted the water and then everything was black.

* * *

Michonne had been close behind Rick and had witnessed everything which had sent fear racing through her. She was running as fast as her legs would carry her, towards the hole in the ice. Once Michonne reached the opening, acting on instinct, she took a breath, then dived in to the freezing cold water in a perfect dive, her fingers went in first followed by the rest of her body. She could see Rick's lifeless form once she was under the water, she noticed little bubbles of air floating out of Rick's open mouth and she began swimming down towards him.

Michonne's heart was in a vice as she swam closer and as she reached Rick, she wrapped an arm around his waist. Rick's lifeless form moved as Michonne started swimming upwards, her muscles were starting to ache and she felt the cold water crawling under her skin.

Michonne could see the surface just barely through the murky water and she tightened her grip on her friend, as she kicked her legs faster as her lungs started burning for air. When she broke the surface she gasped for air and pulled Rick up beside her.

Latching on to his t-shirt, she moved her feet to keep them afloat. Michonne quickly pushed Rick's limp body up on top of the water, like it was floating and Rick's head lolled to the side. Rick's blue eyes were glazed over and unfocused, his skin was pale and cold and his mouth hung open as Michonne looked down at him.

Michonne held him in her arms and supported his back the best she could, as she put her ear and cheek to Rick's mouth to check if he was breathing, but Michonne already knew he wasn't.

"Don't do this to me, Rick," Michonne said through gritted teeth.

Michonne pinched Rick's nose closed between her thumb and forefinger, she took a deep breath and then parted Rick's lips. She didn't hesitate and she tightened her hold on him, before sealing Rick's cold, wet lips with her own. Michonne gave him two deep breaths of air, praying that's all it took, but Rick didn't move and some of the murky lake water around him, splashed his cheeks.

Michonne gulped audibly as she looked at the walkers in the distance and then back at Rick, as she held him close to her. Michonne pulled herself up on to the ice slowly and then she grabbed Rick under his shoulders. Rick was forcefully yanked from the water and he hit the ice with enough force that he should have felt it.

Michonne was dreading the outcome of the situation as fell to her knees beside Rick. She already knew Rick wasn't breathing and she put two fingers under his jaw on his neck looking for a pulse.

When Michonne felt a faint beat under her fingertips she sighed in relief but the fear in her gut was still there and then she looked at Rick. His skin was a grey colour and his lips were blue. Michonne looked at Rick and parted his lips as she did a finger sweep of his mouth, then she hunched over his face, tilted his head back, opening his airway, held back his forehead and pinched his nose closed with her thumb and forefinger.

"Breathe Rick, come on breathe," Michonne murmured.

Michonne took a breath and held Rick's chin, before sealing his lips with her own. She exhaled a breath in to her friend's lungs and his cheeks puffed out, then she sat back on her knees as she watched Rick's chest rise and fall, a mockery of breathing. Michonne leant down and pinched his nose, then blew another breath in to Rick's unmoving body. Rick's chest rose and fell then he was motionless again and Michonne scowered her mind for what to do next.

Rick's head lolled to the side lifelessly when Michonne didn't hold it in place and she felt helpless as she checked to see if he was breathing on his own once again, but she found that he still wasn't.

"Stay with me Rick, we need you, come on breathe," Michonne urged.

Michonne then leaned down once more to Rick's pale face as she continued with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and as she prayed that Rick would breathe on his own. Water suddenly trickled from the sides of Rick's mouth and he coughed up a stream of water, then Michonne rolled him on to his side quickly, not wanting him to choke. Then after a moment Rick lay still again and Michonne pulled him back on to his back then she checked if he was breathing again, but he wasn't which made her gut churn.

"Breathe Rick, breathe," Michonne prayed.

Michonne leant down once more and it was almost a few minutes of breathing for Rick until she sighed and felt the tears stinging in her eyes. She fought against them and took a deep breath, pinched Rick's nose and then gave him a breath. She felt her tears from her eyes fall on to Rick's face and she let her lips linger on Rick's, forcing all the air she had in her own lungs in to his.

At that moment though Rick felt air go in to his burning lungs, he felt a warm sensation on his lips but it went away after a second and he felt something warm land on his face. His chest jerked unexpectedly and then he felt the need to cough. He could hear heavy breathing near him and he could hear a voice that sounded very familiar, then he felt pressure on his nose and on his chin.

"Don't do this, Rick please, breathe, come on breathe," Michonne pleaded her voice breaking.

Then Rick heard a gentle voice, then the warm sensation was on his lips again and he felt air being forced in to him. Rick suddenly coughed in to Michonne's mouth, which made her pull back, then water spewed past Rick's lips, before he dragged in a ragged gasp that hitched over droplets of water. He coughed and spluttered, struggling to get the lake water out of his lungs. Michonne instantly turned him on to his side, facing away from her and she put her hand on his back and patted it.

 **Thank you for reading guys. It's been such a long time since I've wrote a story so I think this is overdue. Anyway please review as I love knowing what you think :)**


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